Wildlife Promise » GAGCIhttp://blog.nwf.org
The National Wildlife Federation's blogFri, 31 Jul 2015 19:00:24 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.3When Scientists Get Tattoos, Do Instructors Respond for Students? A Survey Inquireshttp://blog.nwf.org/2013/11/when-scientists-get-tattoos-do-instructors-respond-for-students-a-survey-inquires/
http://blog.nwf.org/2013/11/when-scientists-get-tattoos-do-instructors-respond-for-students-a-survey-inquires/#commentsThu, 07 Nov 2013 01:26:43 +0000http://blog.nwf.org/?p=88025Back in fall of 1989, in one of my earliest experiences as a conservation organizer, a professor stood up before about 200 students and faculty we’d assembled at the University of Georgia (UGA) and declared:

“Isn’t global warming a red herring? Wouldn’t we do the kinds of things we are proposing here, such as improving energy efficiency and reducing waste, anyway?”

Students had just finished reporting on ways the university could curb emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gas emissions through innovative projects that touched on everything from energy, to the landscape, to commuting and they’d cited benefits to the community such as saving money, reducing congestion and creating jobs. The professor seemed to believe that reducing waste was worthwhile, but was skeptical about the urgency and scale of the task.

He was not alone. At that time, universities and other research centers all across the world were working to improve the ability to monitor and interpret data as well as to foster collaboration among scientists and gather their opinions.

Today, scientists overwhelmingly agree that the earth is warming due to human activity, and universities have played a central part in this understanding. With each of the five successive reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) between 1990 and 2013, the picture has gotten clearer and the consensus has grown.

Universities and the path toward global climate consensus

Researchers and a UMBC scientist show UMBC student Janel Thomas details of NASA’s GRIP project, which is studying the formation and intensity of hurricanes. Flickr photo by NASA/Paul E. Alers.

The first installment of the 5th assessment report (AR5), released in October 2013, draws such distinct conclusions that my colleague, Kevin Coyle, who is vice president of education and training at National Wildlife Federation, likened it to scientists all across the world getting tattoos. It finds, for example, that:

Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, and nitrous oxide have increased to levels unprecedented in at least the last 800,000 years and CO2 concentrations have increased by 40% since pre-industrial times.

This increase is primarily from fossil fuel emissions and secondarily from net land use change emissions.

It is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century.

Continued emissions of greenhouse gases will cause further warming and changes in allcomponents of the climate system.

Higher education research from the Pacific Islands to the Arctic

Higher education is at the center of the climate science, advancing studies of hundreds of dimensions from the cryosphere to the oceans to the atmosphere. Of the 209 lead authors and 50 review editors from 39 countries and more than 600 contributing authors from 32 countries who contributed to the preparation of the IPCC’s Working Group I AR5, nearly half are university-based scientists. Notable examples include:

The late Charles David Keeling who developed monitoring equipment and recorded carbon dioxide at Mauna Loa Observatory in conjunction with Cal Tech and Scripps Institute of Oceanography;

Lonnie Thompson, professor of earth sciences at Ohio State University, who has lead teams of researchers sampling ice cores from ice caps and mountain glaciers all across the world starting in the 1970s;

Peter Wadhams, head of the Polar Ocean Physics Group at the University of Cambridge, UKI, studying impacts from the release of methane from melting Arctic permafrost

Demonstrating solutions on campus and beyond

In addition to the science, higher education is also contributing to the climate solutions. In the U.S., 677 college and university presidents have pledged to achieve carbon neutrality through the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). More than 500 of those have created climate action plans and nearly 2,000 colleges and universities have created greenhouse gas emissions inventories.

South Korea’s Gyeonggi-do Association for Green Campus Initiative (GAGCI) is convening university leaders each year from countries through Europe and the East to explore latest best practices for higher education leadership to reduce industrial carbon pollution.

A faculty survey of career education

Beyond the shifts in campus operations and business practices, however, relatively little is known about the academic uptake of climate science information across disciplines in the U.S.. The faculty member at UGA who expressed skepticism was not alone in 1989, but today, we believe instructors are quietly taking the science to heart, revising courses, and helping their students learn about impacts and solutions and how their disciplines and careers contribute to both.

My colleagues and I are hoping that this short linked survey will provide a snapshot of some of the ways faculty are boosting students’ career preparedness for a new climate. We will share the findings in spring of 2014 before the presentation of the full report in Copenhagen, Denmark, October 27-31, 2014. We hope the poll will illustrate support for the work of the IPCC, document some examples and inspire others.

What stood out in particular, as a participant, were the level of governmental support demonstrated for greener campuses in Korea, its international approach, the focus on climate change and wildlife sciences, and its large network of energized students.

Government Makes Greener Campuses Priority

The Governors of Gyeonggi-Province and Yongin City and other senior public officials, shared perspectives with attendees on the importance of greener campuses to South Korea and to the larger world. The President of Kangnam University, Yoon Sin-il, highlighted the

“meaningful roles of the green campus movement in assisting with the country’s preparation of environmental policies, sustainable development strategies and measures for addressing climate change.”

Government support has also helped South Korea link to international efforts. Over the past three years, for example, its global green campus forum has brought in university practitioners from at least eleven countries and four continents, including Africa, Asia, Europe and North America.

Kangnam U's Honeywell-designed Green Campus System

From Sustainability Curricula to Sacred Forests

Proceedings illustrate various higher education emphases across countries and continents and highlight exemplary programs that might not otherwise be known as widely as deserved, such as Miriam College in the Philippines, in which the faculty and staff take a

“whole-school approach to sustainability education,” according to presenter, Reyett Paunan, “developing sustainability modules for most courses and implementing policies for campus operations, including the recycling of 80% of the campus’ materials stream and green building standards.”

Sonia Koumba Christelle Gerda, from Gabon, meanwhile, described her research efforts at Dalian University of Technology in China, focused on a large-scale urban renewal project in Libreville, Gabon, as well as work to protect and connect the country’s network of thirteen national parks that include biosphere reserves, elephants, and sacred forests.

Low-Carbon Strategies

Green campuses are one of eight national priorities in Korea for addressing climate change science, according to Environment Bureau Director General, Shin-Whoan Park, and also play a role in wildlife and habitat protection and restoration. Professor Si-hu Ju, of Kangnam University, for example, illustrated how the campus is achieving its goals to lead in becoming a low-carbon campus through education for students and staff, a detailed green campus plan with targets and timetables for efficiency and conservation, use of geothermal and other clean energy sources and a recycled water treatment system. The campus also boasts a state-of-the-art resource monitoring and management system designed by Honeywell.

Protecting and restoring wildlife habitat

Green Campus Initiative organizers shared the 2008 report, The Wetlands of Gyeonggi Province, describing Korea’s protection plans and priorities for some 2,000 rivers and streams that provide some of the most important habitats in the world for migratory birds, insectivorous (e.g. carnivorous) plants, and life sustaining water for farmers. Students and faculty, they explained, are key to the research, education and hands-on projects needed to protect and restore these important sanctuaries that hang in the balance as citizens debate the most sustainable approaches to development.

Passionate student leaders for climate solutions

Proud Green Campus Student Leaders in So Korea

One of Korea’s greatest assets for achieving its long-term sustainability goals, is its passionate student leadership. The GAGCI includes many student and young professional leaders and several of its partners, including Daejayon, the International Association of University Students for Environmental Movements (a member of the IUCN), provide channels for students’ voices and leadership.

The students supported through these various programs presented about how the hundreds of green projects they have lead to date, all across Korea and beyond, are motivated by the need to find solutions to growing global ecological and social problems. They pass out stickers that encourage “turning off power strips and standby power,” “saving every drop of water” and to “remember the millions of people throughout the world who are suffering from shortage of water and the climate refugees whose homeland is turned into desert.”

Fostering International Linkages

Thank you to Korea’s Gyeonggi-do Association for Green Campus Initiative for the honor of inviting me to present a keynote for this year’s forum about how “Ecologically Literate and Engaged Students will Lead the 21st Century,” as well as to Paul Rowland, executive director of the American Association for Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) for connecting Korea’s green campus leadership with National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology Program. It is clear that Korea is working hard to advance green campuses as a national framework for sustainability and, through its higher education leadership and international linkages, is a country to watch as it enlightens the world about what is possible.